Royal wedding draws colourful crowds from all over

Trish Audette, Postmedia News04.29.2011

Two girls dressed as brides with a guy wearing a Union Jack skirt pose for the camera in Hyde Park as they wait to watch the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London, England.

LONDON — Thirty years ago, Kitty Norman's mother wore a black-and-white polka-dot dress to the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. The polyester number was mermaid-inspired and the height of 1980s-chic: form-fitting on top and full at the bottom, boosted by crinoline.

"She probably thought she looked good in it, whereas I'm very much aware of the fact I look like a mug," Norman said Friday morning.

The 20-year-old Londoner and her friend, Eliza Dolbey, camped outside Buckingham Palace Friday to witness the royal wedding — after they went dancing in their old-school ball gowns. Dolbey, 19, wore a navy blue ball gown she also found at home.

"They're not a hit. They take up half the dance floor," Dolbey said.

Nonetheless, like many who descended upon the procession route between Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace over the last week, Norman and Dolbey saw the royal wedding as an invitation to deck out in something unusual.

"It's not every day you can wear a fancy frock," Norman said.

Besides, she added, surely her get-up made her the perfect stand-in if Kate Middleton had had second thoughts about marrying into the Royal Family.

Two teenage girls from Bedford, northwest of London, seemed to have a similar idea, pinning signs reading "It should have been me," to the back of their "vintage" wedding gowns. The girls arrived in London Thursday afternoon and also camped overnight outside Buckingham Palace to catch a view of Prince William and Kate kissing on the balcony.

"We just thought it would be a fun thing to do," said 16-year-old Clarissa Marsto. Her friend, 16-year-old Molly Thorne, added: "To go all out and dress up."

They also brought national flags, making it easy to sort Canadians from Americans, Australians, Filipinos and others in the crowd. In areas like The Mall, which runs between Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square, the flags were often used to demarcate people's impromptu camp sites. On the grounds outside Buckingham Palace, the flags were wrapped around people's shoulders, and acted as conversation pieces for people getting to know each other through long waits that, for many, began well before daylight.

Brenda Hunt-Stevenson, from Harbour Grace, N.L., who was decked out in novelty Canadian gear, including a hat with a Maple Leaf on it, and Canadian flags to share, called the opportunity to be in London and outside Buckingham Palace a "once-in-a-lifetime experience."

"Whether you're a monarchist or not . . . we need this," she said of the wedding, calling it a "little break" from all the bad news in the world.

She and her daughter arrived at the palace at 6:30 a.m.

The Rossiter family, originally from Ottawa and now living in London, got to the palace at 8 a.m. and still managed to clinch a spot with a view of the post-wedding vow balcony kiss, an important draw for Sydney Rossiter, 15.

People appeared to throw themselves headlong into the multi-hour event, embracing everything that came their way.

Sydney's father, Barry Rossiter, said the best part of the day was "the atmosphere," and how people cheered every aspect of the day. "A street cleaner went by at about 8:30 this morning, and the crowd went bananas."

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